Considering dropping out.. any advice?

I dropped out about a month into my first semester. Yes, it sucked. I went through some serious feelings of inadequacy, depression, blah, blah, blah. It was no fun having to tell everyone in my life that I had made a mistake. Nevertheless, it’s been a few weeks and I am certain that I made the right decision. I’m sure that it’s not like the work is over your head or you’re stupid or anything; you did get in to law school right? Law school is not for everyone; be happy that you figured it out now. Don’t be one of those people who continues just to prove how hard you are. It’s way too expensive/time-consuming if you don’t have the passion. Leave and don’t look back.

I am a 1L also and going through the same thing. I am pretty sure I should have went to graduate school - law school really isn't at all intellectual.

However, a JD is a great degree to have. Most times in life people never end up where they thought they would - but education and experience is never wasted. No one will ever look down on a JD because it really does imply a lot of hard-work, dilegence, and intelligence, (usually).

I would try and stick it out. It doesn't mean you have to practise and it definitley doesn't mean you have to litigate or draft contracts - there are a lot of lightweight fields of law out there.

I think law school is a real identity check. I am going through it too - I feel like people look at me differently and I dislike that... but honestly, its not true. You are probably just in a rut...maybe you will be in it for the 3 years of law school...but you'll get out of it - don't quit.

No one can make you do anything - including practise. Its definitley a valuable degree.

I've decided to try and stick it out for the rest of the semester. Already paid for the tuition... would be a waste to drop out now. Hopefully things will look up by after this first semester ends. If not I think deferring for a year might not be such a bad idea. I think the main cause of all my stress is as one poster stated the difficulty of the material. That combined with not knowing how well I'm doing in my classes makes it feel like I'm falling behind. But from the looks of it a lot of people feel this way..

Thanks for all the great advice, and I will definitely be picking up those commercial outlines.-Chris

Stop reading cases. Buy commercial outlines for the exams. When in class, surf the Internet and do not pay the slightest attention to the idiot in fron of you, your professor.

Outside of the advice to buy commercial outlines, do not follow this advice. You should still read cases, but moreso for the concepts and rules in the case than the minute details. One thing one of my professors told me is that it is worse to have the wrong case name than not including a case name at all. Another openly said that case names were not required on the final. I know some schools/SBAs keep copies of old exams. It might be worthwhile to see if you can get copies for your classes because it provides a good study guide once you cover the material and it will also give you an idea what the professor is looking for. For example, I have one professor whose essays are essentially a fact pattern and then we are given a role and we have to analyze the case from that viewpoint and, if the role is one of an attorney, state how you would argue the case. This indicates to me that what my main focus should be on in that class is knowing the elements, formulas, and rules. In addition, most professors are willing to look over your any old exam question you do from their past exams as long as you give them enough time

At least fight it out through the first semester and go through finals. Don't quit right now in the middle of the first semester. Someday, you may change your mind and want to go to law school, but you'll have this drop-out experience that will make it very difficult to ever get accepted into LS again. Finish the first semester and then re-assess. If you quit after at least completing the first semester, then at least you've accomplished something and you might be better situated for a return later.

Also, although there might be some parental issues involved, look honestly into your heart. Is part of it the fact that you're freaked out b/c you're not the "golden child" anymore? Most of us have the experience of having been extremely successful back in our "little ponds" but find out we're just average in the "big pond" of law school, filled with lots of smart and aggressive fish. It's a humbling experience, and you're not alone - we're all going through it. I'm just saying that if this fear of inadequacy is the real reason for your desire to escape, and you're just looking for a more acceptable reason for bailing out (i.e. "my parents made me do it"), fight the temptation to do so. You can make it, and you'll feel proud of yourself for battling this fear once it's all over.

My advice is to drop out at the end of the semester. There are already too many lawyers, and there is no stopping the endless law school induced influx of lawyers into the market. Unless you enjoy what you do, get the hell out.

I recently decided to go drop out of lawschool. I hate the work, reading cases, etc. I am re-applying to grad schools. I don't think the world needs anymore lawyers. Its a cut throat occupation and the only lawyers who I know who are happy are public interest lawyers.

So leave. Law school is expensive and god d**mnit it robs you of your creative intuition.